1252 



PEAR 



PECAN 



in passage. Another cause for loss is rough handling. 

 In unloading, the boxes are slid on planks, and if they 

 are not removed promptly at the bottom of the gang- 

 way, one box .strikes heavily against the side of another, 

 bruises the fruit and its sale is injured. The best efforts 

 and work of an entire season may be sacrificed at this 

 point. When the fruit arrives, and opens in perfect 

 condition, the prices received are usually 40 per cent 

 greater than those of the home market. The best re- 

 sults are obtained when the Pears are packed and 

 shipped direct from the orchard. 



With fruit of superior quality, better steamer facili- 

 ties, and more careful handling, a large quantity of 

 American Pears can be exported, for foreign markets 

 are steadily demanding and receiving increased sup- 

 plies. GEORGE T. POWELL. 



PEAR Alligator P., Persea gratissima. Avocado P., 

 Persea gratissima. Balsam P., Momordica, CJiarantia. 

 Oar lie P., Cratceva gynandra. Prickly P., Opuntia. 



PEARL BUSH, Exochorda grandiflora. Pearl Fruit, 

 Margyricarpus setosus. Pearl Weed or Pearl Wort, Sa- 

 gina. 



PEAT is a kind of soil formed by the partial decay of 

 plants in the swamps of the temperate zone. It is a 

 standard potting material in greenhouse work for cer- 

 tain classes of plants, as ferns, orchids, heaths, rhodo- 

 dendrons and other ericaceous plants, woody plants from 

 Australia and the Cape of Good Hope, and many other 

 choice and difficult subjects. American gardeners com- 

 plain that they are handicapped in growing such plants 

 because American Peat is poorer than European, the 

 lack of fiber being chiefly deplored. 



The Peat bogs of England are often 5 or 6 feet deep, and 

 some of the Irish ones are said to be as deep as 40 feet. 

 They have been forming ever since the glacial period, 

 but are now on the decline, owing largely to natural 

 causes. Peat bogs represent the decay of many kinds 

 of aquatic and marsh plants, but chiefly sphagnum 

 (which see). This moss grows upward and decays 

 below. Near the top the Peat is brown, fibrous, light 

 and porous : lower down it tends to be black, heavy, dense 

 and without indication of its vegetable origin. The ash 

 varies from 1 or 2 per cent in newly formed Peat to 10, 

 20, or even 30 per cent in the older Peat. Peat is com- 

 monly used for fuel by the Irish peasantry, but almost 

 never in America. In greenhouse work Peat is valued 

 more for its porous, moisture-holding properties than 

 for its plant-food. If dried, it may be used as an ab- 

 sorbent for liquid manure, "not so much for its inher- 

 ent value," says Roberts (in his "Fertility of the Land") , 

 "as for conserving the nitrogen in the manure, and for 

 improving the condition of the stables." 



The transformation of Peat bogs into arable land is 

 rarely a pressing problem in America. It is usually too 

 costly for a new country. The notion, however, is very 

 common that Peat lands are extraordinarily rich in 

 plant-food. Nevertheless, according to Roberts, swamp 

 muck and Peat are not richer in plant-food than the 

 good soils, with the exception of the nitrogen in the 

 Peat, which, without doubt, is far less available than it 

 is in good soils. (American Peat contains about .67 per 

 cent nitrogen, .21 per cent phosphoric acid, and .13 per 

 cent potash.) Peat lands differ from good, arable soil 

 in being cold, sour, and too wet. To reclaim them one 

 must drain off the superfluous water and apply lime 

 freely to destroy the harmful organic acids. Sometimes 

 sand or clay may be added to improve the texture. 

 Tillage opens the soil to air, warms it, makes it uncon- 

 genial for nitrites, and congenial for nitrates. It takes 

 time to reclaim Peat lands. Thoroughly decayed Feat 

 is muck. W. M. 



Peat is chiefly composed of vegetable matter in what 

 might be termed a state of suspended or partial decay. 

 The soil which covers the greater portion of the earth's 

 surface has been made by the disintegration of rocks 

 and stones, through the agency of frost, water, and the 

 atmosphere, and is composed mostly of sand and clay, 

 these differing in proportions according to locality. 

 Such soils are spoken of as inorganic soils, since they 



contain but a small percentage of organic or vegetable 

 matter. Peat, on the other hand, is spoken of as an 

 organic soil, since it is composed largely of vegetable 

 matter, often as much as 97 per cent. It is formed either 

 in the presence of water or peculiar climatic conditions. 

 That which has been formed under the influence of 

 water is found in swamps or the places from which 

 water cannot pass away readily. Aquatic plants and 

 mosses flourish, and at the end of the growing season 

 they die down; vegetation is renewed the following 

 season, and so on until the layers of decaying vegeta- 

 tion rise above the surface of the water, when ferns and 

 plants of a more ligneous character generally establish 

 themselves and give firmness to the surface. 



That which is dominated by climatic conditions, as 

 on the silicious sands of some parts of England, and on 

 the heathy sands in the north of Germany, is composed 

 principally of the roots of heaths, mosses, and other 

 cryptogams which grew among the heaths. It forms a 

 stratum of what might be spoken of as a very fibrous 

 and elastic turf, usually not more than 3 or 4 inches in 

 thickness. This Peat is not often found in this country; 

 at least the writer presumes not, as he has not seen it 

 offered in commercial catalogues which offer orchid 

 supplies, though they offer fern-root, . bog Peat, and 

 occasionally, "imported Peat for orchids." The fiber is 

 very fine and uniform, and is the ideal material for 

 orchids, anthuriums and other tropical subjects with 

 roots of a more or less aerial character, as it may be 

 broken into small nodules of fiber which do not decay 

 readily with the abundance of water and humid condi- 

 tions that such plants must have at certain seasons. 

 From its porous nature, the surplus water not only passes 

 off readily, but there is also free entrance of air, which 

 is as essential as water for the supply of oxygen to the 

 roots; and by the admission of air, the material is kept 

 in good physical condition. For these reasons, also, it is 

 the ideal material in which to grow ericas, epacris, and 

 other genera of the family Ericacese, though owing to 

 the hot summers of this country these last-named plants 

 cannot be grown to the perfection which they attain in 

 England. Peat which is found in swamps is abundant 

 in this country. It differs from the European product 

 in not having the necessary fiber. Though not of much 

 use for orchids, anthuriums, etc., it is useful in potting 

 ferns, and in preparing beds for planting rhododen- 

 drons, kalmias, and other larger-growing plants of the 

 Ericaceae. It is also useful in mixing soils for vases 

 which have to stand in exposed positions outdoors dur- 

 ing the summer, since it is more retentive of moisture 

 than ordinary soil. As a substitute for the European 

 Peat in orchid culture, etc., American gardeners use 

 kalmia-root and fern-root, especially the latter, which 

 may generally be found in quantity upon the surface of 

 the Peat which has risen above the water. When choice 

 can be had the roots of the more slender-growing ferns 

 are preferable to the larger and stronger - growing 

 species, since the roots are correspondingly finer. 



EDWARD J. CANNING. 



PEA-TKEE. Caragana ; also Sesbanea. 



PECAN (Hicdria Pecdn, Britt. Carya olivcefdrmis , 

 Nutt.). Of the 10 or more species of hickory, the Pe- 

 can is the most important from the horticultural stand- 

 point. Possessing, as it does, the desirable qualities of 

 rapid growth, reasonable precocity and productiveness, 

 and producing a nut with thin shell, good cracking 

 quality, full kernel and delicate flavor, it may well rank 

 first among our native nuts in value and cultural im- 

 portance. Its probable cultural value has long been 

 recognized, but only within the last twenty-five or 

 thirty years has there been systematic planting of the 

 trees in orchard form with a view to deriving profit 

 from the sale of the crops of nuts. By far the larger 

 part of the commercial prodxict of Pecans is still ob- 

 tained from the wild trees of Texas, Louisiana and Mis- 

 sissippi. 



The species is indigenous on lowlands and river bot- 

 toms throughout most of the valley of the Mississippi 

 and its larger tributaries. It is found as far north as 

 Davenport, Iowa, in the main valley, Covington, Ky., in 

 that of the Ohio, and Terre Haute. Ind., in that of the 



